Brownsville: Never Ran, Never Will

“Never ran, never will” is the slogan by residents of the tough neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. “I’m from the ‘Ville—never ran, never will” was said by Brownsville-born heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe in 1993. “Never ran, never will” has been frequently used in rap lyrics.
   
 
Wikipedia: Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.
 
The total land area is 1.163 square miles (3.01 km2), and the ZIP codes for the neighborhood are 11212 and 11233. Brownsville is bordered by Atlantic Avenue to the north (on the Bedford-Stuyvesant border), East 98th Street/Ralph Avenue to the west (Flatbush and Crown Heights borders) and the freight rail Bay Ridge Branch of the Long Island Rail Road and Linden Boulevard to the south (adjacent to the neighborhood of Canarsie) and Van Sinderen Avenue to the east (East New York).
     
Google Books
8 February 1993, New York magazine, “Big Bopper: Heavyweight Champ Riddick Bowe, Straight Out of Brooklyn” by Chris Smith, pg. 45, col. 1:
“I’m not ducking anyone Bowe (boxer Riddick Bowe—ed.) says. “I’m from the ‘Ville—never ran, never will.”
   
Google Books
Still Lifting, Still Climbing:
Contemporary African American Women’s Activism
Edited by Kimberly Springer
New York, NY: New York University Press
1999
Pg. ?:
Generally, my students had come from inner-city neighborhoods with tough-sounding names and reputations to match: Do or Die Bed-Stuy, Never Ran Never Will Brownsville, the Boogie Down Bronx, Harlem.
 
New York (NY) Times—book excerpt
Tuff (2000)
By PAUL BEATTY
Knopf
Now on this, the last cool night of summer, Brooklyn was short three more niggers for Winston to hate. Although he addressed all black men as “God,” Chilly Most, apparently less than divine, was unable to resurrect himself. Zoltan Yarborough, who was always running off at the mouth about his proud Brooklyn roots, “Brownsville, never ran, never will,” had become the rigid embodiment of his slogan.
 
Google Books
Street Talk:
Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage
By Randy Kearse
Barricade Books
2006
Pg. ?:
[I’m] from the Ville, never ran never will phrase (e. coast sl.) old & new school 1. a term used by people who live in places where the name of the place ends in “ville” declare or boast of being tough.
ex: “We from Brownsville, never ran never will.”
 
Google Books
Ice Cream for Freaks
By DeJon
Queens, NY: Q-Boro
2008
Pg. 203:
For some reason he remembered her brother always saying, “Brownsville never ran, never will. Walk slow, so the Guinness don’t spill.”
 
Urban Dictionary
Brownsville
A section of Brooklyn, New York.
It is widely accepted as on of the toughest neighborhoods in all of New York City.
Brownsville is the former home of Mike Tyson.
Other notable people from Brownsville include rappers Sean Price, Buckshot, Smif-n-Wessun and M.O.P
Brownsville, never ran, never will.
by 666300 February 14, 2010
 
Twitter
Wayno
‏@wayno0718
Our motto Is #Brownsville never ran never will, #Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/TzOsJtZF9w
3:39 PM - 22 Jul 2014
 
Twitter
NEW ACCOUNT
‏@Leek_cakedup
I’m From Brownsville .. Never Ran Never Will ‼️
9:01 AM - 26 Sep 2014